Estimation of Knowledge, Attitude and Prevalence of Female Sex Dysfunction in Elderly Pakistani Women

Objective: The study aimed to investigate knowledge, attitude and prevalence of FSD in middle-aged and elderly ladies of our community. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from 15 June 2022 to 15 June 2023, using a structured questionnaire after obtaining approval from the Ethical Review Board (ERB) of Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU), Rawalpindi. Mean and standard deviation were calculated for quantitative and frequency and percentages for qualitative variables. Binary logistic regression was calculated to find an association between the level of knowledge with socio-demographic variables. Data was analysed using SPSS version 26 and a p-value less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: A total of 150 middle-aged and elderly women were randomly included in the study.The females reporting with some medical or gynaecological problem at the teaching hospital of RMU, willing to participate and gave informed written consent where recruited. Their mean age was 54.5+ 2.5 and the overall FSD prevalence rate, estimated from the ‘Yes’ response to questions related to FSD symptoms, was 56.9%. Two-thirds of 110 (73%) had adequate knowledge about FSD. Around 60% knew that women take more time to get ready and the desire for matting and satisfaction also decreases after 40-50 years of age. Around 70% (106) reported that they felt depressed because of sexual problems. Results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that females aged 40-50 years were 2.2 times (p=0.007) more knowledgeable about FSD as compared to elderly women > 60 years. Regarding attitude, more than half of 99 (66%) initially felt embarrassed when asked about their sex problem. However, they mostly felt satisfied (98, 65.3%) when they realised they were being enquired about an important issue of elderly females. Conclusions: A significant burden of FSD exists in the middle-aged and elderly women of our community and they had adequate knowledge about the problem. The study indicates that our middle-aged and elderly ladies need more attention and education so that they can get appropriate treatment for FSD, which would not only improve their quality of family life but also prevent them from going into depression.